Brake for high-speed-railway-car trucks.



Painted may 2|, |901.y

3 Sheets-Sh'eet l'.

E u M G. J. CPEWELL.

(Applimon med ocr. 2o, 1899.)v

BRAKE F08 HIGH SPEED RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS.

(No Model.)v

No'. 674,365. Patented may liniaal.l

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BB'K'E F0R1`HIGI'I SPEED RAILWAY UAR TRUCKS.

(Application led Oct.l 20, 1899.)

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Patented vMay 2|, |90I.

G. JK. CAPEWEL'L. BRAKE FOR HIGH SPEEDv RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS.

(Applicatiqn led Oct. 20, 1599.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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UNITED STATES VPATENT OEEICE.

GEORGE J. CAPEWELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

BRAKE FOR HIGH-SPEED-RAILWAY-CAR TRUCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. Y674,365, dated May 21, 1901. Application tiled October 20, 1899'. i berial No. 734,221. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE J. CAPEWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford,in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Brakes for High- Speed-Railway-Car Trucks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to those brake mechanisms which are provided for the trucks of y railway-cars designed to travel at high rates of speed, which trucks have traction-wheels arranged to run on a central track and have guiding wheels and retainingwheels for keeping the truck in position.

The object of the invention is to produce a powerful, durable, and easily-controlled braking mechanism for a car having such trucks.

The accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, show a truck having a pair of centrally-arranged double-tread traction-wheels bearing a frame which supports upon each side a pair of vertically-arranged retaining-wheels and near each end a pair of horizontally-arranged guidingwheels,with a pair of brake-shoes at each end adjacent to the guiding-wheels for gripping the cen tral track-rail and a pair ot' shoes adjacent to the traction-wheels in position to be forced against the peripheries of these wheels.

The truck illustrated in the accompanying drawings forms the subject of an application filed by me on July 29, 1899, and serially numbered 725,480, and the brake mechanism forming the subject of this application is shown in that other application as illustrating the form that is particularly adapted to that design of truck.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a plan of a truck provided with the brake mechanism that forms the subject of this application. Fig. 2 is a plan, on a larger scale, of one of the track-brakes. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of one vof the track-brakes. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of this track-brake. Fig.` 5 is a side elevation of one of the wheelbrakes. Fig. 6 is afront elevation of one of the wheel-brakes, and Fig. 7 is a plan of this wheel-brake.

The traction-wheels 1 are arranged tandem, so as to travel upon a central rail track.

Each Vtraction-wheel in its periphery has a groove 2, so that the treads will run upon the surface of a rail 3, having a web 4, Fig. 3, extending upwardly from its middle. The traction-wheel axles 5 are provided with bearingboXes and the truck-frame. rests upon these boxes.

The truck-frame has four longitudinallyextending walls formed of vertically-arranged plates, the inner walls 6 being somewhat longer than the outer walls 7. Extending across the middle of the frame are two walls 8, formed of vertically-arranged plates, and across the frame at the ends of the outer Walls are bars 9, while from the ends of the shorter outer walls to the ends of the longer inner walls are braces l0. The plates, bars, and braces are fastened together in a common manner, so as to form a rigid frame, Fig. 1. Between the middle transverse walls of the frame and supported in any desirable manner is a platform 11, upon which the carbody rests. This platform bears a pivot-post l2,throug h which the body connection passes, and blocks 13, which guide the oscillatory movement of the truck with relation to the body and relieve the pivot-bolt from strain, Fig. 1.

Each side of the longitudinal middle at both ends of the truck-frame are a pair of downwardly-projecting arms 14, which hold rods 15. On these rods are housings 16, and pivotally retained by the housings, so as to rotate in horizontal planes, are the guidingwheels 17. The housings inclose the guidingwheels, except for small sections of the inner peripheries of the wheels, which are arranged in pairs, so as to run along opposite vertical faces of the web 4 of the central rail and guide the truck along the track, Fig. 1. n

Near `themiddle of the truck-frame and extending transversely on each side from the inner to the outer walls is an aXlelS. The ends of these axles are held by common boxes connected with the frame in any suitable manner. On the outer ends of these axles are oblong frames 19, and supported by each of these, so as to rotate in vertical planes, are a pair of retaining-wheels 20. These wheels are arranged so that their peripheries may run against guard-rails placed parallel with the central rail either above or below the retaining-Wheels to prevent the truck from tipping sidewise beyond the safety limit, Fig. l.

Levers 2l are pivoted to plates 22, attached to the ends of the truck-frame. These levers are so arranged that their lower ends, which are providedwith friction-shoes 23, will oscillate toward and from the web 4, that projects upwardly from the middle of the central trackrail. A plate 24 is fastened in front of the upper ends of the levers to guide them when the upper ends are forced outwardly and the inner ends caused to grip the web, Figs. 3 and 4. Toggle-wedges 25 are pivoted to the upper ends of these levers, and links 2o' connect the wedges with a piston-rod 27, that is attached to a piston movable in a cylinder 23, that is secured to the Walls of the truck-frame, Figs. 2 and 4. The cylinders are connected with any ordinary tank containing air or other fluid under pressure. The iiuid connections are not shown, for they may be arranged in the manner commonly employed in air-brake systems. When the pistons in the cylinders at both ends of the truck are driven outwardly bythe admission of fluid to the cylinders, the toggles are so moved that the upper ends of the levers are forced apart and the shoes on the lower ends of the levers are caused to bite the web of the rail at each end of the truck-frame. As the pistons travel inwardly the levers move so that the shoes release their bite against the web. As desired, either one or both of these track-brakes may be operated.

A pivot-bolt 29 is supported by the inner longitudinal walls of the truck-frame in front of each of the tractionwheels, and mounted upon each of these bolts is a lever 30. The lower ends of these levers are provided with brake-shoes 3l, arranged to engage with the peripheries of the traction-wheels, while the upper ends of the levers are connected by yoke-shaped links 32 with toggle-wedges 33 at the middle of the truck-frame, Figs. 5 and 7. Each pi vot-bolt is loosely thrust through bearings in the walls and through the levers and then is given a turn, so that the shank 34 of its weighted head 35 will drop into a notch in a block 36, fastened to a wall of the frame. This holds the bolt in place; but by simply turning the bolt on its axis it is free to be'withdrawn, allowing the removal of the levers for repairing or renewing the parts, Figs. 5, 6, and 7. The toggle-wedges by links 37 are connected with a rod 38, that is attached to a piston in an ordinary air-brake system, which, forming no part of the present improvement, is not illustrated. When this rod is drawn upwardly, the toggles are caused to force the links outwardly and so rock the levers that the shoes 31 will be applied to the peripheries of the traction-wheels with great force. As the rod is pushed downwardly the parts are so moved that the shoes 3l will be loosened from the traction-wheels.

I claim as my inventionl. A railway-car-brake-operating mechanism consisting of vertically-arranged levers, a shoe attached to the lower end of each lever, a horizontally-arranged rolling toggle or cam wed ge attached to the upper end of each lever, links connecting the wedges with a piston-rod, a piston and a pressure-cylinder for causing the wedges to roll together so as to force the upper ends of the levers apart and force the shoes toward each other, substantially as speciiied.

2. The combination with a railway car truck having centrally arrangedV tractionwheels and a frame supported by the traction-wheels, of a pair of vertically-arranged levers pivot-ed at each end of the truck-frame, a shoe attached to the lower end of each 1ever, a horizontally-arranged rolling toggle or cam wedge attached to the upper end of each lever, links connecting the wedges with a piston-rod, a piston and a pressure-cylinder for causing the adjacent wedges to roll together so as to force the upper ends of the adjacent levers apart and force the adjacent shoes towardeach other, substantially as speciflcd.

GEORGE J. CAPEWELL.

Witnesses:

H. R. WILLIAMS, F. G. l'IoLcoMnE. 

